Nueces County Courthouse of 1914
Corpus Christi, Nueces County, Texas
Marker Inscription
In 1853 lawlessness in Nueces County, which covered most of the area from Corpus Christi to the Mexican border, prompted the construction of the first county courthouse on this block. Three lots were purchased for $300 from Corpus Christi founder, Henry Lawrence Kinney (1814-1865). A second courthouse was built in the mid-1870's beside the first. Under the administration of county Judge Walter F. Timon (1872-1952), this neo-classical structure was completed in 1914 at a cost of $250,000. The architect, Harvey L. Page (1859-1934) of Washington, D.C., designed the International and Great Northern Railroad station in San Antonio and Laguna Gloria in Austin, home of former Corpus Christi resident Clara Driscoll. Additions were made to the buildings in the 1930's and 1960's. Courtrooms and offices were on the first four floors. The top two floors, separated from the rest of the building by an air space to eliminate noise, served as the jail. In addition to government offices, apartments were provided until the 1950's for the jailer and other county officials. During storms which almost leveled the city, hundreds of refugees sought shelter here. In 1977 county offices moved to a new courthouse building.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
The first courthouse on this block went up in 1853, when Nueces County stretched from Corpus Christi to the Mexican border and lawlessness prompted a seat of order; the land was bought for $300 from city founder Henry Lawrence Kinney. A second courthouse followed in the 1870s, and in 1914 this neo-classical building was completed for $250,000 to designs by Washington architect Harvey L. Page. Its top two floors held the jail, set off by an air space to muffle noise, and during the great storms that battered Corpus Christi hundreds of refugees sheltered within its walls before county offices moved on in 1977.
Why it matters
The 1914 courthouse embodies the ambitions of a growing Gulf Coast county, serving in turn as seat of government, jail, and storm refuge for a city repeatedly threatened by hurricanes.
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Related people
- · Henry Lawrence Kinney
- · Judge Walter F. Timon
- · Harvey L. Page
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Nueces County
Corpus Christi, TX
Nueces County takes its name from the 'River of Nuts' that forms its northern border, a country touched early by Spanish explorers and marked by the frontier post of Lipantitlan. The area passed into Anglo-American hands during the Texas Revolution, and in 1845 U.S. Army forces camped here on their way to the fighting of the Mexican-American War. The county itself was created in 1846 and organized the next year with Corpus Christi as its seat.
George Owens
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Born into slavery in Kentucky in 1843, George Owens enlisted in the Union Army in 1864 and served with the 116th United States Colored Infantry through the Appomattox Campaign that ended the Civil War. He then joined the newly formed 9th Cavalry—one of the regiments Plains nations called Buffalo Soldiers—patrolling and guarding the west Texas frontier before settling in Corpus Christi, where he died in 1879.
Old Bayview Cemetery
Corpus Christi, TX
Old Bayview Cemetery was established in 1845, in the same era that Corpus Christi took root as a coastal settlement and Texas moved toward statehood. Recognized as a Historic Texas Cemetery, it is among the oldest burial grounds in the region and holds the earliest chapters of the city's story. Its founding date alone anchors it to the very beginnings of the community it served.
Thomas S. Parker
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Philadelphia-born Thomas S. Parker came to Texas at twenty, and in 1839 he and his parents received large land grants near present-day Corpus Christi, where they raised cattle. He allied with trader Henry L. Kinney, and when Zachary Taylor's army camped near Kinney's post in 1845 — the staging ground for the war with Mexico — Parker won the contract to supply the soldiers' beef. "Col. Tom" went on to become the first sheriff of Nueces County, later a Texas Ranger and Confederate soldier, and finally Corpus Christi's city marshal, shaping the young city's commerce and law until his death in 1886.